PROCEEDINGS

Governing the Commons:
The Future of Global Internet Administration

Ralph Nader, Keynote Speaker

A conference by
COMPUTER PROFESSIONALS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
24-25 September 1999, Alexandria, Virginia

Major Sponsors:  Open Society Institute & Morino Institute
 
 

http://www.cpsr.org/conferences/dns99/dnsconf99.htm
http://www.cpsr.org

 

CONFERENCE THEMES

In 1999 the implementation of a global institution for Internet administration has continued to raise vexing policy questions.  With the new Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) completing its first year of existence, supporters and critics have differed sharply in their assessments.  Is ICANN "out of control"?   Or are ICANN's critics themselves undermining the public good?  Disagreements have emerged between individuals, firms, and  countries -- and even between different branches of the U.S. government.

This conference provided a forum that allowed parties to articulate their positions in public, to engage in moderated debate with other parties, and to educate an audience of policymakers and stakeholders.

Speakers addressed the following topics:

Sessions

        Welcome to the Conference
    1. Introduction to the Issues
    2. Competition in the Domain Name System
    3. New Technologies Impacting Institutions
    4. The Big Picture: The Emerging Institutional Order
        Keynote Speech by Ralph Nader
    5. Stakeholder discussion

A note on the program
CPSR attempted to assemble a conference program that included representatives of all major stakeholder groups.  Overall, we feel we achieved balance.  However, we must note that many individuals and organizations involved in the creation and maintenance of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) did not participate.  Among those groups were:
        National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
        European Commission (DG-XIII)
        IBM
        MCI-Worldcom
We regret that these groups did not participate in the conference.
CPSR expresses a special thanks to Esther Dyson, ICANN Interim Chair (and CPSR member,) who served on two panels.

Welcome to the Conference
Hans Klein, Chairman of the Board, CPSR
        Introduction to CPSR

Session 1: Introduction to the Issues
This session opened the conference and provided background on the issues, putting the events of 1999 in the historical perspective of a ten-year process to design governing institutions for cyberspace.

Audio recording of Session 1/Introduction (Amato, Klein, Frankel, Camp)  (RealAudio)

Theresa Amato (chair), Consumer Project on Technology & Executive  Director, Citizen Advocacy Center
        Statement by Theresa Amato

Hans Klein, CPSR Chair & Asst. Prof., Georgia Institute of Technology School of Public Policy
        Presentation Slides of Hans Klein  (Powerpoint)

Tamar Frankel, Professor, Boston University School of Law and Berkman Center Faculty Fellow
        Statement by Tamar Frankel

Jean Camp, CPSR New England Regional Director  &  Asst. Prof., Harvard Kennedy School of Government
        Presentation Slides of Jean Camp
 

Session 2: Competition in the Domain Name System
Participants in this panel discussed the relative merits of a single collective registry, multiple competing registries, and private name registration services.

Audio recording of Session 2/Competition (Mueller, Forman, Ambler, Garrin) (RealAudio)

Milton Mueller (chair), Assoc. Prof., Syracuse University School of Information Studies

Richard Forman, Chief Executive Officer and President, register.com

Paul Garrin, Founder and CEO, Name.Space, Inc. & CPSR member

Chris Ambler, Image Online Design, Inc.
 
 

Session 3:  New Technologies Impacting Institutions
This session examined possible near term developments in IP address structure, root server operation, and domain name "findability" that could affect institutional design.

        Video Recording of Session 3/New Technologies (Barry, Auerbach, Deutsch, Bradner) (RealVideo)
        Audio Recording of Session 3/New Technologies (Barry, Auerbach, Deutsch, Bradner) (RealAudio)

Rick Barry (chair), Mid-Atlantic Director, CPSR
        Statement by Rick Barry

Karl Auerbach, Individual Domain Name Owners Constituency (IDNO)

Peter Deutsch, President, Shophound Inc.

Nico Popp, Chief Technical Officer, RealNames Corporation and CPSR Member
        Presentation Slides of Nico Popp  (Powerpoint)

Scott Bradner, Senior Technical Consultant, Harvard University; VP for Standards, Internet Society
 

Session 4:  The Big Picture: The Emerging Institutional Order
Speakers in this session stepped back from the details of  the debates to assess the broad significance of recent developments.

        Video Recording of Session 4/Big Picture (Drake, Rutkowski, Froomkin, Mueller) (RealVideo)
        Audio Recording of Session 4/Big Picture (Drake, Rutkowski, Froomkin, Mueller) (RealAudio)

William Drake (chair), Senior Associate, and Director of the Project on the Information Revolution
                            and World Politics, The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace & CPSR Member

Tony Rutkowski, President, NGI Associates
        Presentation Slides of Tony Rutkowski  (Powerpoint)
        Summary of Tony Rutkowski Presentation

Michael Froomkin, University of Miami School of Law
        Presentation Slides of Michael Froomkin  (Powerpoint)
        Summary of Michael Froomkin Presentation

Milton Mueller, Assoc. Prof., Syracuse University School of Information Studies
        Presentation Slides of Milton Mueller  (Powerpoint)
        Summary of Milton Mueller Presentation

Esther Dyson, Interim Chair, ICANN
        Summary of Esther Dyson Comments
 

Keynote Speech:  Ralph Nader

        Video Recording of Ralph Nader Keynote (RealVideo)
        Audio recording of Ralph Nader Keynote (RealAudio)

        Summary of Ralph Nader Keynote Speech and Ensuing Discussion
        Ralph Nader: Proposed Framework for ICANN

Introduced by Coralee Whitcomb, President, CPSR
 

Session 5:  Stakeholder Discussion
In this session stakeholders and analysts assess ICANN and to discuss their different perspectives.

Video Recording of Session 5/Stakeholders (Klein, Love, Telage, Dyson, Post, Scolese, Cohen) (RealVideo)
Audio Recording of Session 5/Stakeholders (Klein, Love, Telage, Dyson, Post, Scolese, Cohen) (RealAudio)

Summary of Session 5/Stakeholder Discussion (Love, Telage, Dyson, Post, Scolese, Cohen)

Hans Klein (chair), CPSR Chair & Asst. Prof., Georgia Institute of Technology School of Public Policy

Jamie Love, Consumer Project on Technology
       Summary of Comments

Don Telage, Senior Vice President, Network Solutions, Inc.
       Summary of Comments

Esther Dyson, Interim Chair, ICANN
       Summary of Comments

David Post, Associate Professor, Temple University School of Law, and CPSR Member
       Summary of Comments

Paul Scolese, Professional Staff Member, House Committee on Commerce
       Summary of Comments

Tod Cohen, Vice President & Counsel, New Media, Motion Picture Association of America
       Summary of Comments

Participant Discussion and Questions from Audience
 

Sponsors

Morino Institute

Open Society Institute
 

Co-Sponsors

Consumer Project on Technology

School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology

College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology

Syracuse University School of Information Studies

Ivan Allen College, Georgia Institute of Technology

School of Literature, Communication, and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology

Name.Space, Inc.

Cyberspace Policy Institute, George Washington University

Communication, Culture and Technology Program, Georgetown University

NGI Associates

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society
 

Supporters

ICANN Watch

The Internet Public Policy Network
 

Conference-Related Links

CPSR Cyber Rights Page on DNS

New York Times Archive on Internet Governance

ICANN:  The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

ICANN Watch

The Domain Name Handbook
 
 

Conference Program Committee

Rick Barry, CPSR
Jean Camp, CPSR
Marcy Gordon, CPSR
Harry Hochheiser, CPSR
Craig Johnson, CPSR
Hans Klein, CPSR
Greg Laudeman, CPSR
Lawrence Lessig, Harvard University
Jamie Love, Consumer Project on Technology
Glenn Manishin, CPSR
Milton Mueller, Syracuse University
Andy Oram, CPSR
Tony Rutkowski, General Magic
Coralee Whitcomb, CPSR

Conference Chair

Hans Klein, Chairman of the Board, CPSR

Proceedings Editors

Harish Bhatt, CPSR
Hans Klein, CPSR
 

 

Press Coverage

Telepolis, 3 October 1999
"ICANN! No U CANN't!" by Ted Byfield

New York Times Cybertimes, 27 September 1999
"Internet Governing Body Needs Limits, Consumer Advocate Says" by Jeri Clausing

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 25 September 1999
"Internet Governance Issues Debated" by Andrew J. Glass
 

Printable Proceedings

To print out a complete set of proceedings, load and print the following web pages:
        This web page
        Speaker bios
        Introduction to CPSR by Hans Klein
        Statement by Theresa Amato
        Presentation Slides of Hans Klein  (Powerpoint)
        Statement by Tamar Frankel
        Presentation Slides of Jean Camp
        Statement by Rick Barry
        Presentation Slides of Nico Popp
        Summary of Tony Rutkowski Presentation
        Presentation Slides of Tony Rutkowski  (Powerpoint)
        Summary of Michael Froomkin Presentation
        Presentation Slides of Michael Froomkin  (Powerpoint)
        Summary of Milton Mueller Presentation
        Presentation Slides of Milton Mueller  (Powerpoint)
        Summary of Esther Dyson Comments
        Summary of Ralph Nader Keynote Speech and Ensuing Discussion
        Ralph Nader: Proposed Framework for ICANN
        Summary of Session 5/Stakeholder Discussion (Love, Telage, Dyson, Post, Scolese, Cohen)
        New York Times Cybertimes, 27 September 1999
        Telepolis, 3 October 1999, "ICANN! No U CANN't!" by Ted Byfield
        Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 25 September 1999, "Internet Governance Issues Debated"
                  by Andrew J. Glass
 
 
 

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For questions, contact CPSR at 650-322-3778.

 
 
 
 
 
 

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This page last updated on 3 October 1999 - hk

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